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Thursday, June 4, 2015

In Toronto, the Gardiner East kerfuffle. And the police culture's turgid and shameful insistence on continuing the practice of carding, despite all the evidence that it's useless, counterproductive, alienating, and a grotesque manifestation of systemic racism.

We pretty much know what we're going to get from the festering, vindictive, authoritarian Harpoid regime. That it's resisting a fair accounting and hedging over control of resources is no surprise. Nor is its Aboriginal Affairs Minister's literal refusal to stand up at the presentation of the report. Not much left to say about this putrescent government and its contempt for ... well, pretty much everything and everybody except international investors, ideological fellow travellers, and tar-sands diggers.

No, let's keep this a tad closer to home for now. Let's talk about the smooth-talking suit in the mayor's office, and how wrong he is on two of the most pressing issues in Toronto's civic life.

Remember when John Tory used to make sense? (It did happen, and not all that long ago. Like when he was with the Civic Action Alliance.) Isn't that what we were hoping for when he succeeded the Fuckhead Brothers? Whatever happened to that guy, anyway? Was he just saying whatever to get elected, or was there something more insidious at work (geez, can you maybe telegraph things a little more? - ed.)?

Let's run down the signs, shall we? Lines up with the forces of reaction on carding, in the face of pressure from thousands across the city and political spectrum.

Oblivious to injustice, to marginalization, to entrenched and systemic racism. White privilege? Never heard of it.

Lip service. Photo ops. Hollow gestures.

Equivocation on the obvious need to take down the east section of the Gardiner Expressway, all for the sake of a handful of entitled motorists. Hey John, here's a thought: Greatest good for the greatest number? Isn't that what public institutions are supposed to pursue?

And before we go down the dead-end road of binary liberal vs. conservative thinking, let's resolve to respect the meanings of words. Words matter. Language matters. Definitions matter.

This isn't conservatism. Conservatives have their faults, but this kind of clueless arrogance isn't a mark of conservatism so much as atavistic entitlement, ignorance, and shallow expediency. It's the product of years of insulation, privilege, and growing ever more out of touch.

No. This is the inevitable toxic effect of the right-wing approach to (mis)government. Whether it’s drunken oafish crackheads, blue-blooded corporate patricians, or malevolent wingnut-welfare operators, the intent and effect are the same — progressive enfeeblement of government, debasement of language, and reducing the efficacy of public institutions.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Aw, come on, you old sourpuss! Can it really be that bad? Well, maybe. He smiles nicely for the camera.

What's that? I'm being mean, you say? Unfair, even? Because you just know people so deeply invested in a toxic and dysfunctional status quo will happily hand the top job over to a guy who's going to fix it!

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Look, I'll be the first to acknowledge: this makes no sense on first review.

The guy's cruising. He's managed to define the comfortable centre, make himself the default anti-Ford candidate, and take advantage of Olivia Chow's miscalculations and bad positioning. All he has to do is not fuck himself up again, and he's got some very serious help to keep from doing just that.

And then Friday:

Opens the Queers Against Israeli Apartheid / Pride thing again, only to have it blow up in his face.

So what the fuck is going on? Can only speculate: now that Olivia's started playing to her strengths, finally, he's afraid of losing support on the left, so he veers hard right in an attempt to milk what's left of Ford Nation before Brother Dumbfuck starts campaigning in earnest?

Maybe the latest numbers are prompting this, who knows, but really, John? You think you need people like this? Maybe it isn't a series of gaffes. Maybe this is a well-thought out strategic move that we mere mortals aren't smart enough to understand.

Let's see if we can follow the calculation here. He's ready to risk losing people who are basically progressive but willing to hold their noses and support him because Olivia's been running a shitty campaign and he's become the default "only one who can beat Ford" candidate. And he's willing to throw them away because he needs some of the stupidest, most deluded people in the world -- aka "Ford Nation?" You know, the people who think he's a closet Liberal in bed with Kathleen Wynne?

Monday, May 12, 2014

Not only lashing out at others for their own fuckups, but doubling down on the stupidity and ignorance. I know, easy targets, but hey, if they're going to leave the evidence there for anyone to come along and use ...

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

I know, I know. Been a while. Excuse the shit out of me for having a life.

Anyway, anyone following #TOpoli knows what Mayor Stupid and Brother Dumbfuck have been up to recently. It's not as if they matter to the city's governance any more, given that Toronto Council has done the only sensible thing and neutered them, but unfortunately the verbal vomit continues to stream unabated from their pieholes to be licked up by their drooling base.

To wit: consider Mayor Stupid's *cough* subtle wink *cough* to the remaining homophobes still polluting the gene pool. He's never gone to a Pride parade, he says, and he's not going to change. Whoop de do. Not even bothering to lie about going to the cottage any more. (Probably unique for the Fords, whose default setting is to bullshit no matter what the subject matter.) And, with the unique predictability of flies landing on shit, along comes Brother Dumbfuck to insist that the Ford boys aren't homophobes — they just get all icky at the sight of "buck naked men."

And if that's not clear enough, witness Rob Ford's hissy fit about the Pride flag at City Hall's ceremonial flagpole. It shouldn't replace the Canadian flag, he sputters (it didn't). It's about patriotism and supporting the athletes, he says. Yeah, sure, Rob. I mean, dozens of other flags have adorned the ceremonial flagpole, but only when the rainbow flag goes up does Mayor Stupid object and pretend it’s all about the Canadian flag. Right.

So why are we wasting oxygen and electrons on this pathetic civic cancer? Well, could it possibly be that it's part of his "brain trust's" re-election strategy? You know, get the bigots and mouth-breathers all het up about the Ho-Mo-Sekshuals and Les-Beens? Again, no great insight there.

Enter TDSB Trustee Sam Sotiropoulos. True, not that many people pay attention to school trustees, at least not to the same extent that they watch city council. Well, Sammie's decided he wants to change all that, so he's been popping off about his own obsession with buck naked men. (Maybe he and Dougie need to get a room or something. God knows they spend enough time thinking about it.)

Well, not surprisingly, Sambo's been called out for this and otherstupidities. This is a guy who makes policy about education, mind. And his response — surprise! — has been to play the victim card, and insist that people are trying to stifle his freedom of speech, and bullying him, and being all "homosexist" and everything.

Deep sigh.

For starters, this isn't a free-speech issue. There is no right not to be criticized. You don’t get to silence people who disagree with you. You can say whatever you like, but if you say stupid and hateful things, you don’t get a free pass. Calling you on your ignorance isn't censorship. Let's move on.

Sammie then doubles down and bleats that he's against ALL forms of discrimination, and what about the poor white kids of Canadian descent?

Oh, dear. Here's where it gets a little, you know, "nuanced." (Protip to Sambo: don't go looking that up on Urban Dictionary. It'll just bring you more grief.)
To insist, as Sammyboy disingenuously does, that all forms of discrimination and exclusion are equal, and have an identical impact and merit equal condemnation, is to ignore decades — centuries, even — wherein gay people have been marginalized, victimized, attacked and even murdered by straight people. Or wherein people of colour have been marginalized, excluded, exploited and lynched by the dominant class — i.e., straight white males. It’s the height of ignorance, and a well-established far-right trick, to get the oppressors to see themselves as victims.

And his obtuse and wilful disregard for these historical truths can’t help but raise questions about his motives (not to mention his role as an educational official, but we’ll leave that alone for the moment). What, exactly, is he trying to accomplish by repeatedly braying about naked men at Pride parades, if not to sound the same homophobic dog whistle recently slobbered on by the fuckhead brothers? Not to mention singling out the only openly gay member of Toronto Council for this bullshit?

Sam is a nobody. And he’ll continue to be a nobody, regardless of what happens at the next election. The lesson here is, as we’ve seen, another illustration of the toxic Ford effect, and a consistent poisoning of public discourse. With their transparent nod to the knuckledraggers and their desperate and pathetic attempts to rally the drooling remnants of their base, the fuckhead brothers have given an implicit licence to other bottom feeders to come out of the woodwork and ooze their hatred and ignorance all over everything. And that’s the most insulting and dehumanizing thing of all — that our LGBT friends have to listen to this shit All Over Again.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

But hey, I could be wrong. Whaddaya say, @TorontoPolice Tweeter dudes? Yeah, Jeff Bangild and Tim Burrows and Tony Vella and Peter Sloly, I'm looking at you. Should be pretty easy to out this worthless piece of shit, no?

I mean, you don't want the whole force to be condemned over the actions of a few bad apples, do you?

After all, don't cops make a big deal of it when witnesses don't come forward?

And it's not as if this asshole's buddies would suddenly go deaf, dumb and blind or anything, is it?

Because God knows, if the rest of you just look the other way when scumbags like this do their thing, then how are you any better than they are? And you wouldn't want people getting the idea you just cover for the bullying pigs in your midst, or that your dysfunctional organizational culture enables this kind of crap or anything, would you?

Well, you do like to go on about how important it is for you to rebuild your relationship with the community and earn our trust. I'm sure you'll do the right thing. And monkeys will fly out of my ass.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Just in case there was any doubt left, this makes it obvious: he doesn't have a fucking clue what he's talking about.

This is your boy, Ford Asspimple. Even with help from Nunziata and Berardinetti, he still can't get his facts straight or stay on message. That council is actually debating this again is enough to make me wanna barf.

Sure, let's tear up the Master Agreement and bet a billion dollars on this guy. Great idea.